New York City on my birthday

Friday was our free day to roam New York. Four of our group members had never been to NYC, so we had to do as much touristy stuff as we could in a day. We started off at 9:00 am and took the NJ Transit to Penn Station ($5.00 o/w), and from there, we connected to 5th Avenue toward Rockefeller Center.

Take track 1 to New York’s Penn Station

Here’s our train!

While walking toward Rockefeller Center, we made a pit stop to get something to eat. Some of us went to Metro Cafe, while some went to McDonalds or Pret a Manger. We ended up meeting at the NHL Store before heading to Rockefeller Center.

We finally made our way to Rockefeller Center, to the iconic ice rink.

No one on the ice!

Obligatory selfie

From Rockefeller, we made our way to Times Square. Once at Times Square, we let everyone venture on their own until 2:30 pm.

Leaving Rockefeller Center area toward Times Square

Times Square!

Group photo on the red steps

Another selfie

Stephen taking my photo from the red steps

While the others were venturing on their own, Stephen and I roamed the area and came across these things:

Guy Fieri’s restaurant

Didn’t realize this place closed

Fake Rockettes doing a promotional shoot

Promotional shoot of Chicago

We also checked out the newest food hall: City Kitchen.

It was around 2:30 and I was cold, tired, and hungry. I wanted to have a snack since we were planning on a late dinner. A few of the group members went looking for Build A Bear, while the rest of us went to Juniors Cheesecake located off Broadway. The first time I had a Junior’s cheesecake was back in December when I came here with my parents and Stephen.

Here’s what we all ordered:

Located at 1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

NYC size cup of joe

Strawberry cheesecake

Strawberry shortcake

Carrot cake cheesecake

Blueberry cheesecake

Original cheesecake

Raspberry swirl

Chocolate swirl

They also serve corned beef (but not piled high like a real NYC deli)

Matzoh chicken noodle soup

After our snack break at Junior’s, we decided to head over to the world famous Macy’s. We made our way from Bryant Park, the New York City library, and up 5th Avenue.

Bryant Park

NY City Library

Empire State Building

View of the Empire State Building

Macy’s!

While the group went to Macy’s, Stephen and I went to the Flatiron
district so I could get my birthday gift, a Kate Spade wallet. We also ended up finding EATaly, where we had the group come over and join us for dinner.

My sister and brother in law ate here when they were in NYC. They raved about the authenticity of the Italian food, we just had to try it. So, for my birthday, we came here for dinner. The place is divided into sections, such as a meat section, fish section, pasta/ pizza section, dessert, coffee, and even a market section.

I figured that with my large group, pizza and pasta would be best. The hostess said it would be an hour wait, and she would text me when our table was ready. Our table ended up being in a narrow room upstairs, which accommodated the 14 of us. I found the pasta to be much better than the pizza, and really enjoyed the evening.